Maharashtra: Milk pouch buyback not feasible, say suppliers

Amul, the largest dairy in the country, said the state government insistence on buyback was an impractical idea.

Amul said using glass bottles was not a viable solution as milk prices would escalate substantially.

(This story originally appeared in on May 30, 2019)

MUMBAI: A day after environment minister Ramdas Kadam gave milk producers in the state 15 days to introduce a buyback mechanism and set up recycling plants for empty milk pouches, dairies reiterated that the plan was not feasible.

Amul, the largest dairy in the country, said the state government insistence on buyback was an impractical idea.

“We are willing to follow the law, of course, but the fact remains that buyback is not an ideal solution. Is it practical for busy Mumbaikars to collect and return every plastic pouch to their dairy or vendor? How many pouches will they return? Everything from bread to fruits and vegetables, wafers and pasta, online purchases, come wrapped in plastic. One cannot single out individual products or brands to implement buyback,” R S Sodhi, MD of the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation, which owns Amul, said.

Sodhi said Amul had assessed that even those shops that had announced the buyback were not seeing a single customer arrive with an empty pouch of milk.

“Our milk pouches are thicker than the 50 microns stipulated for use. They are 60 microns thick. Moreover, nearly 100% of milk pouches are recycled thanks to ragpickers who collect them and sell them to recycling units. Rather than experiment with new ways we should strengthen the existing system that is already working well,” Sodhi said.

The 15-day deadline was the third such over the past year or so. As part of the extended producer responsibility (EPR) plan under the plastic ban, milk producers have to inform the government how they will collect and recycle empty plastic pouches. A viable buyback price should be introduced.

The EPR plan needs to be submitted to the government for approval, but dairies have expressed their inability to implement it.

Another dairy leader blamed the rise of the newly formed EPR agencies for this insistence on unconventional ideas like buyback. “Buyback cannot work if you segregate it by product or company,” the dairy head said.

Amul said using glass bottles was not a viable solution as milk prices would escalate substantially.